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Post by Oh Cry Me a Screwball on Dec 3, 2022 21:01:51 GMT -5
HOLY SHIT. I have no memory of the Hirohito vignettes actually making it to TV. Tune in to see Hirohito's revenge for the nuclear attacks on Japan right here on Spike TV, following the semi-finals of Slamball. One of them made it to TV, but don't bother looking on Peacock, as it was completely scrubbed from that Raw episode. www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-w4H5a2u4c
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Post by Triangle Lancer on Dec 3, 2022 21:31:16 GMT -5
Between 2003 Raw and 2004 Smackdown it's pretty amazing absolutely any of us continued to watch this. I worked afternoons, so the only way I watched any of it was when the weekend shows did the Raw Rewind; 98% of which was hot, steaming garbage I didn’t care about. Yeah, 2004 was the time when I remembered the show was on but it was a blur.
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tirtefaa
Unicron
If you wanna know the truth, you gotta dig up Johnny Booth.
Posts: 2,976
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Post by tirtefaa on Dec 3, 2022 23:06:56 GMT -5
As dumb as some of the patriotic things WWE was doing around this time was, I at least understood the reason why, even if it was completely pointless.
But Hirohito? How would that have NOT been instant Wrestlecrap? Nevermind the fact that WWII was 60 years removed... it's just very tasteless, moreso than the typical tasteless stuff.
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Rave
El Dandy
Perpetually Bored
Posts: 8,200
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Post by Rave on Dec 4, 2022 1:13:16 GMT -5
I remember this making TV only once. Was s'posed to be Kenzo Suzuki's initial gimmick, I've heard that either he requested not to do it or the Japanese imperial family caught wind and threatened a lawsuit. With the latter, apparently neither Vince nor Dan Madigan (also responsible for aforementioned frozen Nazi pitch) even knew there was such a thing.
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Post by queenfan12 on Dec 4, 2022 4:26:19 GMT -5
I only remember seeing the vignette once. I remember reading someone like Meltzer reported that Vince was told by a Japanese wrestler or someone who had spent a lot of time in Japan that there was still had a lot of respect for Hirohito and this gimmick might lead to a lot of bad heat. Remember Tajiris group on Smackdown was going to be called Yakuza until someone told Vince this could get them in heat with the real deal. Tajiri's stable was called "Kyo Dai", and it was Tajiri himself who put the kibosh on the stable as he was still living in Japan and didn't want the Yakuza coming after him.
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Mozenrath
FANatic
Foppery and Whim
Speedy Speed Boy
Posts: 121,287
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Post by Mozenrath on Dec 4, 2022 4:47:19 GMT -5
I only remember seeing the vignette once. I remember reading someone like Meltzer reported that Vince was told by a Japanese wrestler or someone who had spent a lot of time in Japan that there was still had a lot of respect for Hirohito and this gimmick might lead to a lot of bad heat. Remember Tajiris group on Smackdown was going to be called Yakuza until someone told Vince this could get them in heat with the real deal. Tajiri's stable was called "Kyo Dai", and it was Tajiri himself who put the kibosh on the stable as he was still living in Japan and didn't want the Yakuza coming after him. Yeah, it was skirting dangerously close, so I get why he ixnayed it. Didn't he also ultimately leave WWE due to his wife living alone in Japan when he'd be on the road for long stretches? So he was already obviously concerned for his wife's well-being. Yakuza types are definitely no stranger to wrestling, and will tolerate some level of acknowledgment judging by Chono's, like, entire presentation for much of his career, but that's in Japan. WWE doing it in the US without any input from them was maybe courting disaster.
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Post by Feyrhausen on Dec 4, 2022 6:35:08 GMT -5
Tajiri's stable was called "Kyo Dai", and it was Tajiri himself who put the kibosh on the stable as he was still living in Japan and didn't want the Yakuza coming after him. Yeah, it was skirting dangerously close, so I get why he ixnayed it. Didn't he also ultimately leave WWE due to his wife living alone in Japan when he'd be on the road for long stretches? So he was already obviously concerned for his wife's well-being. Yakuza types are definitely no stranger to wrestling, and will tolerate some level of acknowledgment judging by Chono's, like, entire presentation for much of his career, but that's in Japan. WWE doing it in the US without any input from them was maybe courting disaster. I only remember the Kyo Dai name ever being on TV, just video games. TV they were just Tajiri, Akio, and Sakoda. Tajiris and his wife lived in the US. But she didnt speak english or drive. So when he was on the road she was stuck at home by herself.
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Mozenrath
FANatic
Foppery and Whim
Speedy Speed Boy
Posts: 121,287
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Post by Mozenrath on Dec 4, 2022 7:23:13 GMT -5
Yeah, it was skirting dangerously close, so I get why he ixnayed it. Didn't he also ultimately leave WWE due to his wife living alone in Japan when he'd be on the road for long stretches? So he was already obviously concerned for his wife's well-being. Yakuza types are definitely no stranger to wrestling, and will tolerate some level of acknowledgment judging by Chono's, like, entire presentation for much of his career, but that's in Japan. WWE doing it in the US without any input from them was maybe courting disaster. I only remember the Kyo Dai name ever being on TV, just video games. TV they were just Tajiri, Akio, and Sakoda. Tajiris and his wife lived in the US. But she didnt speak english or drive. So when he was on the road she was stuck at home by herself. Ah, right, that was it, he went back for her sake, since obviously, it is MUCH easier to not be a driver in Japan, plus she'd be in a place where she spoke the language and presumably had friends and family. He did well for himself in WWE, but I mean, he's done well in Japan, too, so he probably made the right choice for himself.
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Sephiroth
Wade Wilson
Surviving
Posts: 29,057
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Post by Sephiroth on Dec 4, 2022 8:17:00 GMT -5
At least he wasn't named Hideki Tojo. >_> Outside of history buffs pts ti ally no one in the casual audience has any idea who Tojo was. Which is actually disappointing. My main memory of him as Kenzo Suzuki was his debut match snubbed this eksbkrate entrance-to dead silence. And how not long after they tried to set up a feud between him and Cena, and as his wife/valet/translator frantically waved her hand in front of her face while he tried to glare menacingly you could just hear the sound of tires screeching.
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Post by Natural Born Farmer on Dec 4, 2022 8:58:09 GMT -5
I presume he would've feuded with Adam Bomb.
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auph10imitated
Dennis Stamp
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Post by auph10imitated on Dec 5, 2022 12:02:42 GMT -5
I genuinely had no idea the Hirohito part even made TV, I thought they changed it way before even getting to that stage
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Post by Confused Mark Wahlberg on Dec 5, 2022 15:33:57 GMT -5
Sure was, and it was mostly dudes from Canada that got it because of Chiraq Vore reasons that we can't get in to lmao In general the older I get the more I realize how many hilarious/insane WWE decisions from that time period were incredibly related to That. "YOU CAN GO TO HELL...OR FRANCE. SAME DIFFERENCE." ![](https://s2.dmcdn.net/v/9R4Cl1L9VTaxDU0GN/x1080) Why did they think the best guy to debate a Harvard grad was the dumbest man alive?
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chazraps
Wade Wilson
Better have my money when I come-a collect!
Posts: 28,051
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Post by chazraps on Dec 6, 2022 9:57:15 GMT -5
We've sent this company money.
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Fundertaker
El Dandy
Hideo Kojima should direct every ending ever!
Posts: 8,983
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Post by Fundertaker on Dec 6, 2022 10:35:47 GMT -5
"YOU CAN GO TO HELL...OR FRANCE. SAME DIFFERENCE." ![](https://s2.dmcdn.net/v/9R4Cl1L9VTaxDU0GN/x1080) Why did they think the best guy to debate a Harvard grad was the dumbest man alive? Because he came from a highly educated university and he wrestled a lot of countries!
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Post by Magic knows Black Lives Matter on Dec 6, 2022 11:06:00 GMT -5
Between 2003 Raw and 2004 Smackdown it's pretty amazing absolutely any of us continued to watch this. Real shit. Rewatched 2004 Smackdown in it’s entirety recently and holy shit, they was just doing anything
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Post by Alice Syndrome on Dec 6, 2022 11:23:24 GMT -5
What I heard was Kenzo's wife Hiroko basically nixed it by pointing out the actual Imperial family would be pissed at them.
Apparently the writers didn't know that Japan still HAD an emperor after WW2
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